Interview with Abhinav Gupta, Founder, Profitjets

As a founder with experience building an accounting and advisory firm and providing CFO services, could you introduce yourself and explain the perspective you bring to career development in accounting?

I’m a chartered accountant (CA) and the owner of an outsourced accounting firm. We provide full finance function services for businesses, including bookkeeping, payroll, and tax, as well as high-level finance function services like CFO services. I’ve learned several valuable lessons in my career, and these are the ones I’d want to highlight for young accountants. The first is that the technical side of accounting gets you a job and keeps you employed, but to build a career, it’s important to understand the story the numbers tell. I spent the first few years of my career believing that the goal of accounting was to ensure accuracy. I’ve since learned that there’s more to the role. The goal of accounting is to identify and document relevant information. It’s the judgment and recommendations accountants make that ultimately propel the organization forward. The numbers help identify the areas where a founder needs to take action or make a change.

What were the key steps in your journey from becoming a CA to founding an accounting and advisory business, and how did those experiences shape your approach to the profession?

Starting a CA practice and other businesses has been an extension of my learning. In my earlier years, I developed my technical skills extensively. I believe one must invest time in understanding the business. Accounting is the numerical representation of business activities and, by itself, is not complex. The most challenging and interesting part is understanding the business and its implications.

Recognizing this motivated my first step into the world of entrepreneurship. Running businesses has been a roller coaster, but it has been enjoyable. My combined entrepreneurial experience broadened and enhanced my perspective on the practice.

A CA is a regulated professional and, as such, is perceived as practicing strictly in accordance with the letter of the law. However, in the field, compliance caveats abound. A CA is eminently capable of becoming a trusted advisor to clients in the true spirit of the profession.

For someone choosing their first accounting role, what signs have you found indicate that an opportunity will provide meaningful hands-on learning?

The most important indicator of a job’s long-term impact is the extent to which it affords a broad view of its function. A job that helps you learn how the monthly close is performed, along with reconciliations, statements, and other accounting functions, is more valuable. I am also interested in how your work is reviewed. If you are lucky enough to have a more experienced person working with you to show you the right way to do things, you will have learned something valuable. A long title and a prestigious employer will not hurt, though. A good indicator is whether you will see the number in question. Preparing a report, for example, on accounts receivable aging gives you some know-how, but seeing how a more seasoned person uses that number gives you the rest of the lesson.

You have said that practical judgment becomes increasingly important in finance; how can a new accountant begin developing that judgment in their first year?

There’s a distinction to be made about judgment. People are pretty quick to determine whether an entry is wrong. Determining the meaning of an entry is where judgment starts. The habit to build is to look at figures and question the ones that seem odd rather than blindly assuming the entry is correct. Usually, figures that seem odd are “odd” for a reason. Figuring out why a figure is odd is where the learning opportunity lies. The second habit is comparison. The habit worth building is determining what led to changes from one month to the next. This comparative habit helps build a sense of judgment when a figure seems to be wrong. With time and practice, judgment becomes pattern recognition.

How can an early-career accountant learn to connect routine financial information with the underlying operational decisions of a business?

The way to be the best in accounting is to find the reasons behind the entries in the ledger. Cost lines move for a reason. Often, the business has made a decision that causes an increase or decrease in a cost line. A creative accountant will view the ledger as a log of decisions. Once a decision has been made to hire an employee, that employee will need to be paid, and a cost line will change. An accountant will have to explain the decisions made by the business. This will truly add value to a business if the accountant understands what actually happens in it.

From your experience across startups and different industries, what is one way a junior accountant can build commercial awareness beyond their technical accounting responsibilities?

One habit: Learn revenue models before reviewing the chart of accounts. The junior accountants who peel the onion most quickly at the firms where we work are the ones who can distill revenue models. Each industry, and often each company, has idiosyncrasies in its revenue models that affect the structure of its financial statements. It is important to understand where and when cash is received and spent. Understanding various margins and what constitutes a healthy month are also critical. You can correctly post journal entries without comprehending any of the above. You can develop your knowledge of the business beyond the numbers by understanding how the numbers impact the business. Often, people in the back and middle offices treat each client the same and copy and paste their knowledge about the business to new clients.

What communication habit has made the biggest difference for accountants who need to turn financial analysis into clear, useful guidance for non-finance colleagues?

I think the most important communication habit is the ability to tell a story using business numbers. This means going beyond the data and accounting jargon to describe the story the numbers convey, including what the numbers mean for the business and the next course of action. I also believe that asking clear, simple questions at the right time, combined with active listening — especially with members of the management team and employees — improves financial communication and strengthens workplace relationships. The goal of any financial communication should be to adequately equip a person to make an informed decision, rather than to display knowledge and prowess in financial matters.

As a founder and finance leader, what does taking ownership look like in practice for an accountant who does not yet have seniority or formal decision-making authority?

Taking ownership is about more than just designation and seniority. As an accountant, taking ownership means managing the work you oversee. It means following up on tasks and not ignoring or postponing work because of pressure or distractions. More importantly, it means staying alert, identifying mistakes, reporting them, and not concealing them. While doing all this, it’s important to keep the big picture in mind and not get lost in the details. Questions like, “What am I doing?” and “Am I doing this correctly?” should be at the back of your mind. Don’t blindly follow instructions. Understand the reasoning and rationale behind them. You might not be authorized to make final decisions, but the importance of sharing your ideas and doing work related to decisions can’t be overstated. I have seen this accountability positively influence people’s careers and the work they do.

Looking back on your own career, what is one early-career choice you would encourage aspiring accountants to make to build flexibility and long-term opportunity?

I would suggest that accounting students learn about the broader business world rather than focusing purely on finance. Early in my career, I learned a lot about the effects of financial decisions through my interactions with business owners. Additionally, this provided me with opportunities to consider other avenues beyond the scope of traditional accounting, including starting my own business. I believe the best accounting and business students are curious and proactive; they say yes to opportunities that make them uncomfortable. Mastery of the basic concepts of business gives a person the opportunity to evolve and diversify their career.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Thank you for this opportunity.

This article was first published on Featured News.